An 1898 manual for running Indian schools.

Rules for the Indian School Service

The United States government began organizing specially-designed schools for the assimilation of Indian children in the nineteenth century. Believing that this process was best accomplished through a specific course of action, the Office of Indian Affairs issued books and pamphlets that described in great detail how these schools were to be organized and the role and duty of each employee. This guide prescribes 262 rules for the operation of non-reservation boarding schools, reservation boarding schools, and day schools. These schools were intended to prepare Indian children for the "duties, privileges, and responsibilities of American citizenship." Rules concerning pupil behavior begin on page 25.